A HUMAN rights lawyer once described as the “next Cherie Blair” was fined £1,000 and ordered to “get a grip” on her life yesterday.

Emily Lomax, 38, appeared before a professional standards tribunal after she crashed her car while three times over the limit.

She had already been fined £995 and banned for 21 months in October last year after admitting drink-driving.

The barrister, a member of Amnesty International, Liberty and the Haldane Society of Socialist lawyers, also resigned as Labour councillor in the Hulme area of Manchester following the smash.

The case halted her glittering legal and political career and yesterday she was hit by a formal reprimand as well as the £1,000 penalty.

Miss Lomax admitted conduct likely to bring the profession into disrepute at a hearing of the Bar Standards Board in central London.

Chairman Rosslind Wright QC, said: “If you are going to continue to practise at the Bar, you need to get your act together, get a grip on your life, get a grip on your practice and make sure you are able to dedicate your wholehearted attention to your clients.”

If you are going to continue to practise at the Bar, you need to get your act together, get a grip on your life, get a grip on your practice and make sure you are able to dedicate your wholehearted attention to your clients.

Chairman Rosslind Wright QC

Miss Lomax told the hearing she had developed a “serious alcohol problem” after the inquest into her brother’s suicide in January last year.

She was driving to a Manchester City Council meeting nine months later when her Nissan Micra hit two other cars at traffic lights.

Tests showed she had 108 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35mcg.

Miss Lomax told the tribunal she had been to a rehabilitation clinic and had taken seven months off work to allow herself time to recover.She said: “I spent so much time in qualifying, so to throw it away at this stage I don’t know I would be able to come back.”

In addition to the drink-drive conviction, Lomax also admitted failing to complete required professional training courses in 2009 and failing to pay her contributions to the Bar mutual indemnity fund.

Mrs Wright told her: “We have sympathy with what you have been through, but at the same time we have the reputation of the Bar to think about.

“These offences are serious, but you have already had a substantial fine and been dealt with by the court.

“This tribunal is in no way trying to impose an additional penalty on you.”

Miss Lomax works out of Manchester’s Central Chambers and is described on their website as “noted for her dynamic personality, fearless advocacy, quick thinking and upholding of civil liberties”.